ECA and the Agricultural Outlook

Excerpts: We might start off by pointing out that ECA is primarily a banking agency. Its basic function is to finance essential imports into Western Europe--into the participating countries--in an amount which represents the difference between the earnings those countries now have and the total value of their necessary imports; in other words, to make up the current deficits in their balance of trade—making it up, of course, only to the extent that (a) it is necessary, and (b) the funds authorized by the Congress permit. We have talked, as you have noticed, primarily about the European demand, with reference to Western Europe, because after all it is obvious that, although the dollars the ECA is putting into European hands is less than the dollars it had in previous years, it is a very important segment of the whole foreign demand picture. I have not touched upon domestic demand and domestic prospects because you have others here who can comment on them more intelligently. But I should like to leave one parting thought. Important as is foreign demand, the big market is right here in the United States.